You May Have Forgotten WR Greg Ward, but the Eagles Haven't
Greg Ward carried the banged-up Eagles' receiving corps down the stretch last season and his reward for that seems to be the pay-no-mind list.
DeSean Jackson is healthy again, Alshon Jeffery is working in that direction, and first-round pick Jalen Reagor arrives with the commensurate hype anyone with that tag receives.
Even lesser round draft choices like John Hightower and Quez Watkins or second-year rebound hopeful J.J. Arcega-Whiteside get the crossed-fingers treatment from the fans before anyone brings up Ward, the former University of Houston quarterback who's transition became complete in the end zone of FedEx Field when he rose up over one-time All-Pro Josh Norman to salvage the season back in December.
After that win in Week 15 head coach Doug Pederson mentioned that Ward was his wife's favorite player.
And you know how the saying goes: "happy wife, happy life."
That's a little tongue-in-cheek obviously but it does seem like the only people who haven't forgotten about Ward are the Eagles.
"I've always liked Greg," said Pederson, back from a 10-day COVID-19 exile, on Wednesday from the NovaCare Complex. "He's been on our practice roster. As a young player, we activated him. He played last year, did well."
From Week 12 on, no WR on the Eagles piled up more yardage than Ward, who snared 28 receptions for 254 yards over that span.
If the coaches are being honest, the hope is that Arcega-Whiteside will earn the X spot as Jeffery continues to rehab from his Lisfranc injury opposite Jackson at the Z and Reagor working in at the slot position, but Ward will undoubtedly get the first crack at staying inside and both JJAW and Reagor are going to have to prove they're ready and fight their way on the field.
"The one thing now as he goes into this season, he's in that rotation, in that starting mix for us," said Pederson. "It's just a matter of him embracing every day, getting better. Being a former quarterback, he understands our offense. Being in our offense, he knows the concepts and the routes. He and (QB) Carson (Wentz) have a really good feel for one another."
While you may have put Ward on the backburner the Eagles certainly haven't
"I think for him now it's just a matter of continuing to get better each and every day and putting in the work," said Pederson. "We expect some really big things from Greg. He can also be a leader. He can be a leader of that group. Him and DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, these guys, they can be leaders now and mentors to these young players."
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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